Information technology has revolutionised the way the world works. It has impacted every area of human endeavour, from work to leisure. But perhaps no other entity has been influenced by it more than the corporate companies. Leveraging the faster processing power of silicon chips and cutting-edge software, they have learnt to do things in a fraction of the time it used to take earlier.
Digital technology offers many benefits – ease of use, increased speed of executing projects, reducing the time needed in designing and producing new products and launching them in the market, managing information flow across the organisation, communicating with the world at large and storing data and past records.
The only problem is that with the increase in the spread of computers has come an increase in digital crime -- hacking into competitor’s computers to steal secrets, sending offensive but anonymous emails to colleagues, copying files from hard disks, destroying critical data in an act of employee sabotage, threats and intimidation by emails, stealing confidential information from servers like credit card numbers and personal details of customers.
This is a new type of crime that is committed not in the real world but in cyberspace. Cracking it is beyond the competence of ordinary detectives or law-enforcement officers. There are no finger prints to be lifted or blood trail to be traced. The only way cyber-crime can be solved is through digital forensics.
The field of forensics involves solving cases of crime or fraud by gathering evidence using scientific instruments and procedures. Digital forensics is the branch of forensics that deals with cyber crime. Just like in the real-world a criminal never leaves behind the scene of crime without some evidence, so too in the digital world there is no such thing as a perfect crime.
Digital forensics uses special tools and skills to collect evidence in crimes where computers have been used one way or another (typing threatening letters, storing the game plan to commit a crime) or where the computers themselves have been a target of some criminal activity like stealing confidential data.
The funny thing is that information technology cuts both ways. It is difficult for ordinary cops to solve a digital crime since they lack specialised knowledge of how computers work and store information. In the same way, it is almost impossible for cyber-criminals to destroy digital evidence completely unless they have special tools and expertise.
In fact, digital evidence is easy to be deleted by simply pressing a computer button but it is almost impossible to be destroyed. It is very difficult for someone to cover their tracks because of the way computers store information. Once a digital document has been created on a computer – like an email, text file or spreadsheet – it remains stored in various forms and versions. Even after its deletion by the user, the data resides in various locations in the cyber-space. It is the job of the digital forensics specialist to find these, track them down to the user and collect this evidence in such a way that it can be used in a court of law.
Digital forensics is a very specialised and important field that can be a life-saver for many companies that have been the victim of cyber-crime. Even in day-to-day events which do not exactly fall in the definition of serious crime but are quite offensive or have a nuisance value like some employee sending offensive emails or posting pornography on the company Intranet, digital forensics investigators can pinpoint the culprit.
However, the awareness is quite low among the company managements that there is a very advanced computer forensics industry out there that can come to their rescue. As a result, most corporate victims of cyber fraud and crime suffer in silence, thinking that nothing much can be done and it would be almost impossible to trace the wrong-doers.
There are many things that can be done by the computer forensics industry to increase awareness of their services:
- Mailers: Since companies and organisations are the ones to be most often affected by cyber-crime and data theft, posting mailers to their management about the field of digital forensics is a good idea. The literature should explain to them the option of calling professional help next time they are struck by computer crime.
- Advertisements: Classified advertisements placed regularly in yellow pages and newspapers can go a long way in creating awareness among the general populace about the benefits of using digital forensics in case like cyber-stalking, illegally posting someone’s picture on an adult site, and so on.
- Media Coverage: The world of digital forensics is full of interesting cases that were cracked after detailed investigations. These can be told to reporters who can carry these as stories which will be read with interest by a lot of people. After all, sex and crime always sell!